Sammy doesn't hit historic homer -- oh, and Cubs win

Wednesday

Jun 20, 2007 at 12:01 AMJun 20, 2007 at 7:04 PM

With all eyes on Sammy Sosa, Cubs beat Rangers 5-4.

Jeff Vorva

Texas slugger Sammy Sosa came into Tuesday night’s game against the Cubs with 599 career home runs.
The former Cubs superstar also entered the game with 2,258 career strikeouts.
Many fans in the Rangers Ballpark crowd of 38,290 were hoping to see history Tuesday night in the form of Sosa belting one more home run.
Instead, they got a chance to watch the Dominican designated hitter pad his whiff total. Sosa struck out three times (twice swinging and once looking) in his first three at-bats and then flew out to center field in his final at bat of the Cubs’ 5-4 victory.
Derrek Lee, who appealed a five-game suspension and was able to play in the game, drove in the go-ahead run when he doubled home Mike Fontenot in the sixth inning. Fontenot, who was one of the players who came to the Cubs in the deal that sent Sosa to Baltimore, had two hits and scored two runs.
Asked about possibly hitting the milestone homer against his former team, Sosa said he wasn’t making it personal.
“It’s another day in the office,” Sosa said before the game. “I’m kind of happy to face my old team. I’m definitely going to go out there and look for something good to hit. It’s not like I’m going to hit it and that’s it for me. Hitting it will please a lot of people but I have to go back to work.”
Sosa retired from the game in 2006 but came back and inked a $500,000 deal with the Rangers this season.
“One day I was watching TV and they showed that I was at 588,” Sosa said. “And I thought, ‘Wow — I gotta go back.’ ”
The 38-year-old Sosa is fifth on the all-time home run list and wants to pile up some more because he hears footsteps from some younger players.
“I want to play a little longer because we have a few people coming,” Sosa said. “We have A-Rod (Alex Rodriguez) and Ken Griffey (Jr.) and Manny Ramirez. The way they are treating me here, I can play five more years. Why not? If Julio Franco can play at 48 or 49, why can’t I play until I’m 42 or 44, right? I’m not going to stop there.”
Sosa already has Hall of Fame homer numbers, but there is still a cloud of suspicion that he may have taken steroids in his career. Nothing has been proven, but the speculation could sway some voters not to vote for him.
“I’m not in the position to say I’m going to go to the Hall of Fame,” Sosa said. “I just need to play and play good and somebody has to make the call. Somebody will have to vote for me.”
Sosa hit 545 homers in a Cubs uniform — the most in franchise history. He had epic seasons of 66 homers in 1998, 63 in 1999, 50 in 2000, 64 in 2001 and 49 in 2002. He also had some controversies with the Cubs, and after he left early without permission during the final game of the 2004 season, the organization had seen enough and shipped him to Baltimore four months later.
While there was some hostility between Sosa and Cubs management during his final days as a North Sider, first-year president John McDonough extended an olive branch to Sosa during spring training.
“That was nice,” Sosa said. “I remember one time he and I had a little bit of inconvenience, and I apologized for that a long time ago. He went to spring training and we talked. I never had nothing against anybody.
“It’s still my city. But I’m in Texas and I have to be thinking about Texas right now.”
More Cubs coverage can be found online at www.dailysouthtown.com/sports.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.